CK Farmer Sick Of Paying Large Hydro Bills

A Chatham-Kent quail farmer is at a crossroads when it comes to paying his hydro bill.

Scot and Cheryl Ryckman own a quail farm near Highgate and say they have been paying what they’re calling “outrageous” hydro bills for two years.

They were charged $590 for electricity usage in November, however, the total bill came to $5,900 thanks to a delivery charge of nearly $1,800 and a global adjustment fee of over $2,700.

Ryckman says the adjustment fee is “ridiculous” and he’s just trying to survive as long as he can.

“Basically they use your usage in kilowatt hours and multiply it by 40, which works out to about a 4,000% increase,” he says.

The Independent Electricity System Operator says the global adjustment charge accounts for the difference between the market price and the rates paid to regulated and contracted generators and for conservation and demand management programs.

The IESO says when the hourly rate is lower, then the global adjustment is higher to cover the additional costs.

Ryckman hopes the skyrocketing hydro bills don’t put him out of business.

“We can continue to survive it’s just that it continues to get passed on to the end user,” says Ryckman. “Whenever somebody decides they’re not going to pay the price, I have to have to be able to pay my bills — that’ll be when the business will end.”

He says he’s in a catch-22 situation and doesn’t have any other option but to pay the bill.

“If you push back and say you’re not going to pay the bill, they just shut you down anyway,” says Ryckman.

Paul is a news reporter and anchor, and has worked at several radio stations across Southern Ontario including Toronto, Oshawa, Windsor and Chatham. He graduated from Radio Broadcasting at Humber College in 1997.